Dave Ramsey often gets calls about timeshares. Bad idea! For what you pay, you'd be better off taking the money and putting it into a vacation each year, because do you really want to be stuck vacationing in the same place each year at the same time?

Plus, if you want out, they're very difficult to sell, virtually no market.

Wanna buy mine?
We have one, and really don't like it. Maybe because we never actually travel to any of the places that they have vacation houses available (apparently Anaheim got left off the list ).
It just never really evened out- what we spent versus what we would have spent on hotels.
I would definitely take a careful look at what would be spent on hotels and what you will be spending on the timeshare (count in the yearly taxes/expenses- that's what caught us by surprise. Ours is paid off, but the yearly expense makes it not worth it for us).
I guess it makes sense for some people- we know a couple who love theirs, but it hasn't worked out for us.

Homeschooling mom of 2 rambunctious, loving, spectacular boys, wife to an incredible man who has been my best friend on this journey <3

I don't own one, but my inlaws do. Theirs is part of the RCI network, so they can trade their weeks at their timeshare for weeks at other timeshares, so it isn't always vacationing in the same spot. Even so, they don't use it to its full potential, I'm sure they've lost probably about half of their weeks and give away a lot. Also pretty expensive yearly fees, etc. We would never do it.

I have been offered a 1 bedroom timeshare -(sleeps 4) for under $1000.00 including maintenance fee,transfer fee, and cost of unit(deed),taxes .,to be used 1 week a year.
Yearly fee and taxes are under $500.00
Is this a good deal ?

My college BF just sold ours. We bought it together in '95 and visited it twice. It was in FL. It was one of those 5 star, trade it for any other 5 star resort as often as you want deals. He actually used it with his wife to go to Greece for their honeymoon.
It took a while to sell, but he made loads of money (not that he needs it--sportscaster for NBA team...), and he is sending me a chunk .
So, I guess it may not be good if it's stationary...but maybe the roving type?? I would *not* do it agian, FWIW.

We have one - it was an inheritance - and we pretty much hate it. Even though we didn't pay for it originally, the RCI fees add up every year, and exchanging to go somewhere else other than our "home" resort can be a major PITA if we're thinking about going somewhere popular, like Hawaii.

I wouldn't buy one, unless you like the idea of vacationing the same place, probably the same week, every year for the life of the timeshare.

Mama to DD : (7/23/03) & DS : (10/27/06) married to DH 7/20/01and yet 90% more mainstream than the rest of MDC

Dave Ramsey often gets calls about timeshares. Bad idea! For what you pay, you'd be better off taking the money and putting it into a vacation each year, because do you really want to be stuck vacationing in the same place each year at the same time?

Plus, if you want out, they're very difficult to sell, virtually no market.

We have these friends (husband and wife) who bought a timeshare. It can be used in different places, but I think the problem is it's hard to get a good week. They already went this year and the water was freezing at the beach. Not my idea of a good time.

Just think how you could spend that $500 a year! If you want to go to other resorts in the "network" there's more fees!

Though I do have to say, I've been visiting my parents at their timeshare in FL every winter since dd was born (all my other siblings have school or work) and I do enjoy it (a very nice location with a waterpark, golf course, etc)

You can buy ours!!! Ours is at the Sheraton Vistana in Orlando. With Vistana, you can either use it in Orlando or you can change it at no fee to one of their other resorts. We also have a membership to RCI where we bank our week and can exchange it for anywhere in the world for a minor fee. You can also 'gift' your week to friends and family. It's actually not as bad as some people might make you think it is. There are different "weeks": Red Weeks and Blue Weeks. You want to buy a Red Week as those are most desirable. Any warm sunny location is most likely a Red Week. Ours is a year round red week, and our resort has a 5 year waiting list to get in on exchange. Ours is also a floating week, which means we can use it any week of the year.

I have a friend who's had the same one in Aruba for 25 years and loves it. Never changes.

We just want to sell ours to use the $$ on a downpayment for a house since we live in FL and can drive to Orlando.

Not a good investment. We've looked at a few since we do 2 long weekends a year at the same place every year but they're just rip-offs. Hidden fees EVERYWHERE! Cleaning fees, maintenence fees, etc etc. It's also supposedly really hard to get the days you want.

Stacey Happy wife to Rick ,homeschooling Mama to Jacob, Noel, Joanna and a sweet due in the Spring!